1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to fire suppression systems for buildings and, more particularly, to an electrical fire extinguishing system for a structure which includes electrical outlets, devices, appliances and/or fixtures, the system including a central computer system, a plurality of fire sensors distributed through the structure, a central fire suppression fluid tank, a plurality of fire suppression fluid pipes connected to the tank, valves for controlling fluid flow through the fire suppression fluid pipes with each of the fire suppression fluid pipes extending into an associated electrical outlet, device, appliance or fixture, and the central computer system, fire sensing devices and valves cooperating such that upon one of the fire sensing devices detecting fire in the structure, the central computer system signals the appropriate valve to open to release fire suppression fluid into the electrical outlet, device, appliance or fixture with which the fire suppression fluid pipe is associated.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fire suppression systems in buildings are well known and are used in a variety of circumstances. As a general rule, the fire suppression systems used in buildings consist of a system of water pipes which extend into each room and hallway of the building with sprinklers mounted in the ceilings of the rooms and hallways such that when a fire is detected, the sprinkler system engages and releases water through the sprinkler to douse any fires in the rooms where the fire was detected. While this type of system has been generally acceptable and has saved numerous lives, there is still the problem that many of the fires caused in modern buildings are not of the type which are easily extinguished by the application of water alone. There is therefore a need for an improved fire suppression system which is designed to extinguish fire types which are not easily extinguished by water alone.
There are several examples found in the prior art which disclose fire extinguishing systems which are intended to improve upon the standard sprinkler-type fire extinguisher. These include such devices as Powers, U.S. Pat. No. 5,936,531, Rosen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,307, and Livingston, U.S. Pat. No. 3,833,062. These devices, however, share one thing in common with the water sprinkler systems of the prior art and that is that they are designed to flood the entire room with fire suppression fluid to extinguish the fire, causing damage to all furnishings within the room. While this damage is generally considered an acceptable price to pay to put out the fire, it is considered so only because to date there have been presented no alternative solutions which do not cause damage to the building furnishings. There is therefore a need for an improved fire extinguishing system that will limit damage to furnishings while still extinguishing the fire.
With few exceptions, the prior art devices are not designed to stop the fire where the fire begins, such as in an electrical outlet or electrical fixture. Instead, the fire may become quite large before the fire extinguishing systems are engaged, which can result in large amounts of damage to room furnishings even if the fire is extinguished. There is therefore a need for a fire suppression system which operates on electrical outlets and electrical fixtures and will minimize fire damage to room furnishings.
Also, those prior art devices which do show fire extinguishing systems designed for use with electrical outlets are generally designed as individual units to be fitted into electrical outlets only. Thus there is no centralized system which will send fire extinguishing fluid to each of the other electrical fixtures, outlets, and other electrical devices which are integral to modern buildings. It is estimated that over fifty percent of all structure fires are electrical in nature, and, to the best of the inventor's knowledge, there are currently no examples found in the prior art which address and solve this problem. There is therefore a need for a centrally located fire suppression system for electrical devices which will quickly and efficiently extinguish electrical fires at their source.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved electrical fire extinguishing system.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved electrical fire extinguishing system which includes a central fire suppression fluid tank connected to each of the electrical fixtures, outlets and switches throughout the building by a series of fire suppression fluid pipes which transfer the fluid from the central tank to each of the electrical outlets depending on the fire condition thereof.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved electrical fire extinguishing system which includes a central computer system connected to a series of fire detection devices and which is operatively connected to several valves mounted on the fire suppression fluid pipes such that detection of a fire in a particular location permits the central computer system to engage the valve for that particular area and send fire suppression fluid to the fire location, thus preventing peripheral damage to room furnishings of the kind caused by engagement of sprinkler systems yet still extinguishing the fire.
Finally, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved electrical fire extinguishing system which may be quickly and easily be added to buildings during construction thereof and will greatly enhance the fire fighting capabilities of fire suppression systems currently used.